Feathers
by sexierthanthetardis
Summary: Highschool AU. Castiel was born with wings, and he tries his best to hide it. destiel.


Cas looked down at his shoes, ignoring the disappointed stares of his friends.

"Seriously, Cas?" Charlie said, "It's the end of summer and you haven't been swimming with us once!"

"I know," he said, "I'm just not a fan of swimming."

Charlie opened her mouth to say more, but Dean held up his hand, signaling for her to stop.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. We'll see you tomorrow."

Dean and Charlie left the room. Cas stood still for a moment, but when he heard Dean's car pulling away he crumpled to the floor. He hated giving them lame excuses for why they couldn't hang out. He didn't want them to think he was pushing them away, but he had to. He had to keep his secret, even from Dean.

Castiel woke up the next morning to the sound of his phone ringing. He groaned and flung himself out of bed, grabbing his phone.

"Hello?" he said, sleep clear in his voice.

"Hey," Dean said on the other line, "We're going to music festival. Wanna come?"

Cas hesitated for a second, calculating before he replied.

"Sure. What time?"

"Twelve thirty."

Cas looked at his clock. It was nine-thirty now, so he should have time to get ready.

"I can do that. See ya later."

He heard the line die and set his phone down. He was glad Dean still wanted to hang out, and that he could actually agree this time. He might have smiled at this if he hadn't glanced at the mirror on his closet. Since he generally sleeps without a shirt, the copper-gold wings on his back were all to visible.

"Look who came out of their cave for once," Charlie teased when she saw Cas.

Cas rolled his eyes and Dean laughed. They bought some hotdogs from a cart and began walking around. There were tons of small stands where people were selling CDs and other merchandise for their little known bands. They spent hours roaming around, and when it got dark the guys said goodbye to Charlie and started walking towards the parking lot. When they got to the impala, Dean started patting his pockets furiously before groaning.

"I think I left my keys with Charlie. I'll be back in a second."

Before Cas could protest, Dean ran off in the direction of the festival. Castiel sighed and leaned against the car. He had been standing there for about two minutes when someone came up behind him, putting their hand over his mouth. Castiel tried to push away from the person, but with his small frame he was easily overpowered.

The person dragged him out of the parking lot, which wasn't too difficult seeing as how they were parked near the back edge, and pulled him into a small alley between two long abandoned buildings. When they were easily out of sight, the stranger flung Cas against the brick wall, knocking the breath out of him. When Cas regained his senses he tried to run, but the now obviously larger man held him very firmly against the wall.

"You really shouldn't try to fight me," The man whispered in his ear.

Cas was scared frozen, but when he felt the man's hand slide up the front of his shirt, he tried to fight back once more. Angry now, the stranger began to pummel the young boy until he fell to the ground, unconscious.

When Cas woke up, the first thing he noticed was the intense pain all over his body. When he moved to sit up in the bed he was sitting in, a jolt of pain shot through him. He put his hand to his chest, and he was pretty sure he had some broken ribs. After a short moment, he realized his chest was bear, and he wasn't in _his_ bed.

Panicking, he shot up, and immediately regretted it. He fell back down on his mattress and made a strangled whimpering sound.

"You awake?" someone said from across the room.

Cas looked up to see Dean rising from a chair on the other side of the room. He walked over and sat gently beside his friend, stroking his head slightly.

"It's ok. You're safe now."

Castiel looked at him terrified. He couldn't exactly move, and there was no way he could hide his wings now.

"Sorry I didn't take you to the hospital. I kinda figured that you might not want doctors seeing those," Dean said, gesturing to the feathery appendages protruding from his friend's back.

Cas licked his lips, trying to find his voice, "No, thank you. A hospital would have ended pretty badly."

"I fixed you up the best I could. I think you have a few broken ribs, some brakes in your left arm, and your ankle is pretty busted up. Also, your left wing looks like it might be fractured, but I can't really tell."

Castiel instinctively put his arm around his chest, wishing he had something to cover up the part of him that proved he was a freak. Dean noticed that his friend looked very uncomfortable.

"Do you want to borrow a shirt?"

Cas nodded and Dean grabbed a t-shirt off the floor and handed it to him. Cas tried to put it on, but winced when he couldn't bring his arms up over his head. Dean carefully helped him pull the shirt over his head and down over his wings. Dean's hand brushed against some of the copper-gold feathers, and smiled slightly at how soft they were. When his extra appendages were covered, Cas felt more at ease.

"Better?" Dean asked.

Cas nodded. They were silent for a moment before he spoke.

"Did anyone see?" he whispered.

"Just they guy who tried to kill you, but he's been known for using way too much acid and telling wild stories. Plus after I got through with him he probably won't be remember anything."

Cas smiled slightly at that.

"You can't tell anyone about this," Cas said.

"Don't worry, you're secret is safe with me. You should rest for a little while."

Cas nodded and laid back on the mattress. Pretty much every position was terribly painful, but on his side facing Dean's Chair was the least discomforting. He slowly drifted off to sleep, and vaguely in the distance he could hear something. After a couple of hours he woke up again, and he could hear Dean talking to him; probably still assuming that he was asleep.

"Why didn't you ever tell us? I mean, I get not letting everyone know for safety reasons, but why not tell me and Charlie and Sam?"

"Because I'm a freak," Cas muttered, half awake.

"What?" Dean said, noticing that Cas was awake now.

"I didn't tell you because I'm a freak."

Dean gave him a sad look, "No you're not."

"What else would you call a kid with feathers?" Cas asked. He had been asking himself that question for years.

"Different. Special. Unique," he hesitated slightly, "Beautiful."

He looked at his friend. "It's not beautiful, it's creepy and unnatural."

Dean frowned, "Do you really think that?"

Cas was quiet. Honestly, he thought of his wings as disgusting. When he was in elementary school, he was so appalled by them that he tried to cut them off. If his mom hadn't of found him, he might have been successful.

Dean walked over and held his friends face, looking into his eyes.

"Your wings are a part of you, and that makes them beautiful."

Cas was going to protest, but before he could, Dean's mouth was suddenly on his. Cas was frozen for a moment before he could process what was happening, but then he returned the kiss slightly clumsily from his lack of experience.

"Besides," Dean said when they pulled apart, "They make you look like an angel."


End file.
